Been blogging for 22 years. Gearhead, Canadian living in Calgary. Hobbies are street photography, skateboarding, and chilling out. Hang around, I update frequently.
I am no longer on any social media.

Thursday, August 6, 2015

Online Scams - a refresher

Types of online scams

There are many different scams and ways criminals can defraud people
online. Many of these have become familiar as they gained popularity in
recent years, such as the "Granny scam" or letters from people in West
Africa offering victims a cut of their cash if they help stash it
online. However, most online fraud falls under one of three categories.

Phishing is when a fraudster sends out mass spam messages to try
and draw victims to a website designed to look very similar to a
business's website that is reputable, such as a big bank or government
department. The term "phishing" is a play on fishing — the criminal is
throwing out bait to see if they can get a fish (you) to take it. Once
the victim arrives on the fake website, they are generally prompted to
provide personal or financial details that will then be used to commit
identify fraud.

Pharming is when a criminal, often a hacker, redirects traffic
from a legitimate website to a fake website without the victim being
aware of it. The victim then enters personal information, which is
"harvested" by the criminal, which is where the name — a play on the
word farming — derives from.

Spoofing is when a criminal uses software or an online tool to
mask their identity by displaying a fake e-mail address, name or
telephone number on the victim's computer or phone. This is meant to
trick the victim into thinking they are dealing with someone trustworthy
and also hides their location. Internet service providers and telephone
companies can unmask people using spoofing but only if they are
informed quickly, before their database overwrites the information.